Trouble
by Shire hobbit
Summary: After Ricky and Fred 'look' at some girls, Lucy and Ethel try to get back at them. This only causes a problem...
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own 'I Love Lucy' ~ I hope you enjoy my story!

~~~~~

One Friday afternoon, Ricky had something to tell Lucy. His publicity agent had planned a job for Ricky and the orchestra, and then had forgotten to tell him… until today.

"Lucy," Ricky said as he walked into the apartment. He shut the door, then walked over and sat down on the couch.

"Yes?" she asked, coming from the bedroom.

"Well," he said slowly. He didn't really want to tell her. "I have to go away for the weekend."

"What?… Why?" she asked, as she sat down next to him.

"Me and the guys have a job out of town - we're going to be on a television show," he explained. "The show is tomorrow night, so we're leaving tonight, and we'll be back Monday morning."

"Oh, well, can I go with you?"

Ricky shook his head, "All the reservations have already been made."

"Oh," she said, dissappointed. She had wanted to do something with Ricky this weekend. She didn't know exactly **what** yet, but she hoped they could make some plans. Then she realized what Ricky said, and suddenly she was interested, "A television show?"

He sighed, this was why he hadn't wanted to tell her. "Yes, but you cannot be on it. Even if I agreed to let you, they don't have any room for any more acts." He smiled, "But, I think I can make it up to you."

"How?" she asked curiously.

He pulled some tickets out of his pocket, "I'm going to take you and the Mertzes out for a special night tonight. We'll go to the theater to see a play; and after that, we'll all go to dinner and dancing."

Lucy smiled, she hadn't gone to see a play in a long time. She hugged him, "Oh, Ricky, thank you!"

He pulled her away, and pointed a finger at her, "But you have to promise not to bug me about not bein' able to go."

She shook her head, "No, I won't." But then she remembered something, "Didn't you say you had to leave tonight?"

"Yeah, I do," he nodded. Then he shrugged, "But not until later."

"Oh, okay," she said happily, hugging him again.

The Mertzes walked in then. "What's going on?" Ethel asked.

Lucy let go of Ricky, and stood up. "Ethel, guess what," she said excitedly. "Ricky's taking us all out to the theater, and then we're going to have dinner, and we're going dancing!"

"What for?" Ethel asked, surprised.

After Ricky had explained everything, Ethel was just excited as Lucy. "What time do we leave?" she asked.

He looked at his watch, "Well, we should probably go soon."

"Okay," Lucy said as Ethel started walking toward the door. "Just let us get ready…"

~~~~~

"So, are you girls enjoying the show?" Ricky asked the two of them at intermission.

"Oh, yes!" Lucy exclaimed. And Ethel added, "Thanks for asking us to come."

"What do **you** think of the show, Ricky?" Lucy asked. Ricky didn't answer her. She shrugged and started looking around.

"How about you, Fred?" Ethel asked. He didn't answer her, either.

Lucy saw where drinks were being sold. "Ricky, would you mind getting me a drink?" Again, Ricky didn't answer her. This time, she followed his gaze. When she found what Ricky was staring at, she sighed heavily. She nudged Ethel and pointed to two young, beautiful girls - twins.

Ethel nodded, "Oh, no wonder Fred's drooling!"

Lucy shook her head, and turned to Ricky – his eyes were bugged out and his mouth hung open. "Ricky? Ricky? Ethel and I are going back to our seats now."

The twin girls walked away - Ricky and Fred's gaze followed them until they left the room.

"Hmm?" Ricky asked. "Did you say something?"

Lucy sighed, "Yes, I did." She looked at him angrily, "I asked you about the show, I asked you to get me a drink, and then I told you that Ethel and I were going back to our seats."

"I'm sorry, I guess I didn't hear you," Ricky told her.

Lucy nodded, "I know you didn't!" She and Ethel turned to head back to their seats. Ricky and Fred didn't follow them right away.

Once they were seated, Lucy got an idea. "You know, they're always looking at girls that are younger - and more attractive - than us." Ethel remained silent. "Well," Lucy went on. "What if we found two men - two handsome men - and just admired them." She thought a little more, then added, "We could do it at dinner tonight."

"You mean us, act like they just did?" Ethel asked.

Lucy smiled and nodded, "Yeah - all we--"

Ethel shook her head, "No. I don't wanna act like Fred. I'm not drooling in PUBLIC!" She thought about it, then added, "Or anywhere else."

Lucy sighed, "You don't have to… Did you see Ricky? I couldn't get that look on my face…" suddenly she gasped, her eyes widened and her mouth hung open.

"Lucy, what is it!?" Ethel gasped, grabbing her friends' arm.

Lucy's face returned back to normal. "Nothing," she chuckled. "I was trying out Ricky's face."

"Oh," Ethel sighed. "You looked more like you were suddenly scared."

Lucy waved her hand, "Well, we don't have to act **exactly** like they did - let's just find some men, and then watch them, smile, and pretend to be interested in them."

Ethel smiled, "Okay." She didn't like most of Lucy's idea's, but… this one didn't sound too bad…


	2. Chapter 2

"That was really great!" Lucy said about the play, as she sat down at a table. "Thanks for bringing us all Ricky!"

"Yeah, but remember what it's for - remember your promise!" he said, warning her.

"Aw," Lucy gasped and pretended to pout, "And I thought it was because you loved me…"

Ricky glared at her playfully, he knew she was teasing. He smiled, "That, too."

She chuckled, and Ricky started to say something, but the waiter came and asked for their orders.

While Lucy waited for her turn, she looked around. Finding what she was looking for, she nudged Ethel, and nodded in the direction of two men. Ethel looked at them - one had dark brown hair, the other's was light brown; they both had attractive faces; both were dressed up in black suits; and neither of them seemed to have a date. She was impressed with Lucy's choice; she turned and gave Lucy a look that said 'Not bad.'

When the waiter had finished taking Ricky's order, he was ready for Lucy's. But she didn't tell him what she wanted, she let her gaze fall on the man with the darker hair.

After several attempts, the waiter moved on to Ethel, but she didn't talk to him either. So he took Fred's order, then went back to the kitchen.

"Lucy why didn't you tell him what you wanted?" Ricky asked. She didn't answer him.

"Ethel?" Fred asked. "What's the matter, you usually eat everything you can!" She didn't answer him.

Ricky carefully followed her gaze, past a few other tables, and past some dancers, and finally saw what they were staring at. Feeling a bit jealous, he started to wonder how to get her attention._ I could try talking about something she likes… Or I could try asking her to dance… Or… Or… Wait a minute! Didn't I do the same thing to her ealier this evening? That's it, she must be mad at me._

Fred had seen the other men also, but he didn't show any sign of jealousy. Ricky leaned over to him, "Remember those two girls we saw earlier tonight?" he asked quietly.

"Boy, do I!" Fred grew excited, "Why? Are they here?"

Ricky drew back, surprised, he thought Fred would be at least a **little** concerned. "No," he whispered.

"Oh, well what about them?" Fred asked.

"Because of them, I think the girls are mad at us," he shook his head, "they don't **really** like those guys."

Fred's face fell, "Maybe not now, but we could encourage them."

Ricky shook his head, "No, I'm serious."

"You really don't think so, eh?" Fred asked, glancing at Lucy and Ethel. "Well, okay…"

The waiter brought their food, and they started eating, ignoring the girls' behavior.

~~~~~

"Hey Bob," said Steve, the darker-haired man. "Look there, those two girls are starin' and smilin' at us."

Bob looked over at them, "Yeah. Hey, they're pretty cute."

"Nevermind how cute they are," Steve grumped. "Isn't that Ricky Ricardo they're with?"

"The fat guy?" Bob asked.

Steve rolled his eyes and shook his head, "No, not that one. The **other **guy they're with."

"Oh! Oh yeah, Steve, that's him!" he looked back at Steve curiously, "Steve?"

"What?" he sighed.

"Who's Ricky Ricardo?" Bob asked.

"He was in a movie," Steve told him, as if it was something everybody knew.

"Oh…" Bob said, amazed. "What about him?"

"He probably has a lot of money!" Steve said impatiently. He stood up, "Come on, let's go ask those girls to dance."

Bob smiled, "O-Okay… uh, Steve?"

"What now?"

"Can I have the red-head?"

"You can have whichever one you want," Steve offered.

"Oh boy!" Bob said, excited.

Steve sighed heavily and started over to the other table.

~~~~~

Ethel quickly turned away from the other men, while Lucy slowly turned away.

"They're coming over here!" Ethel exclaimed quietly to Lucy.

Lucy nodded nervously, "Yeah well, forget it, they'll probably just walk by. Let's see how the plan worked." She turned to Ricky, "Oh Ricky," she said, trying to sound dissappointed. "How come the waiter didn't bring **me** any food?"

Ricky looked up from his plate, and shrugged. "I guess you didn't want any. He asked you what you wanted, and you didn't answer him."

"He-He asked me?" Lucy tried to sound surprised. "Oh, I guess I didn't hear him…" she lied.

"I guess you didn't either," Fred said to Ethel. "I sure was surprised when **you** ignored him, too." He shrugged, "At least you saved a little money."

"What does it matter?" Ethel asked. "Ricky's treating us to dinner. That means he's buying."

Fred chuckled, "Well, it's still somebody's money!"

"Excuse me," said Steve. "Aren't you Ricky Ricardo?"

Ricky looked up at him, his jealousy returning. "Yes," he said.

"I thought so," said Steve thinking quickly. "My mother is a fan of yours."

"Oh?" asked Ricky, the jealousy fading away again. _He's not here for Lucy._ He smiled to himself, _He probably just wants an autograph._ "Tell her I'll be on a television show tomorrow night."

Steve nodded, trying to speed up the conversation, "Yeah, alright, I'll tell her." Finally, he got to the point, "But actually, I came over here, because my buddy likes this beautiful lady," he said, motioning to Lucy.

"Yeah," Bob agreed. "I--"

Steve nudged his friend to stop him from talking. "And I thought this one was cute," he said, motioning to Ethel. "And we were wondering if we could dance with these two."

Lucy and Ethel just sat there. Neither of them knew what to say. "Well… I-I don't think that… You see, we were… You don't… I-I-I…" Lucy tried to tell them no, but was so flustered, she didn't know how to put it. She didn't want to be rude, but she couldn't think of anything polite - at least not without telling Ricky and Fred their plan. "Ricky?"

Ricky tried hard to keep from laughing. Yes, he was jealous, but he thought Lucy's 'situation' was funny. He shot Fred a look that said 'Play along.' He turned to Lucy and stood up. "Don't ask me," he said angrily. "You can dance with him if you want. Come on Fred, they can stay with these two if that's what they really want." He started walking toward the door, with Fred following.

"No, no, Ricky!" she called after him. Now she didn't care about being polite; she pushed Bob away, "No, we don't want to dance with you two." She and Ethel hurried out the door after their husbands.

They caught up with them in the parking lot, and found them laughing.

"What? B-But… Ricky!" she cried, realizing it had only been a joke. First, she was relieved that Ricky wasn't mad at her. Then, **she** got mad, because of the trick. "That wasn't very nice!"

Chuckling, he pulled her into a hug, "I'm sorry - It was a perfect chance, I couldn't pass it up."

Lucy pulled away, "Well…"

"Besides," Ricky said. "I should be leaving pretty soon."

"Aw, Ricky, are you sure I--"

"Ah, ah… your promise… yes, I'm sure."

She gave him a small smile, "Oh, okay." She chuckled, "Ya' know. If it was the other way around, I probably would've pulled that trick on you…"

~~~~~

"No, Bob," Steve said, as they left the restaurant. "We'll follow them home tonight. Tomorrow we'll do the planning…"


	3. Chapter 3

~*The next night*~

"Ethel, I'm bored…" Lucy spoke into the telephone. "Would you and Fred like to come up and play cards or something?"

"Well, Fred's busy right now, but I'll come up."

"Oh alright."

"Okay, bye."

"Bye Ethel," Lucy hung up the receiver, and the doorbell rang.

__

She **couldn't** have gotten here **that** fast! Could she…? Besides, she doesn't ring the bell…

She answered the door, but of course, it wasn't Ethel. It was Bob. "Can I help you?"

"Yes. But you don't remember me do you?"

Lucy stared at him a little more. _Oh yeah!_ "What do you want?"

"Just to talk with you for a minute," he told her.

She stepped back out of the doorway, "Come in."

He walked over and sat on the couch. "I came here because of last night. I wanted to apologize."

"Really? That's awful nice of you; thank you," she said, taking a seat next to him.

"You're welcome," he said. "Also, I thought you could recommend a good motel."

"A motel? Why?" she asked, curious.

"Good question" he muttered to himself. What was it Steve had told him to say? Oh, right! "My landlord kicked me out of my apartment today, and I need a place to stay."

Lucy shrugged, "Why not go stay with… you're friend?"

"Oh, his name's Steve. I'm Bob," he smiled. "Anyway, we had an argument," he told her. "And… And he won't let me in."

Lucy shook her head, "That doesn't seem very nice."

Bob sighed. Why was she making this so difficult? He shrugged, "Well…" he said, trying to stay on the subject. "I don't have a lot of money, so please, not an expensive one."

"Oh, well…" she started. _I can think of plenty of suggestions, but which ones should I mention? After all, I have an apartment, I don't need a motel - I don't know their prices. And I also don't know how much money he has…_ She sighed, "I-I guess you can stay here if you'd like. **BUT**…" she warned him. "**Only** for one night."

"Oh thank you miss," he said gratefully.

"Yeah well, one night," she said again. She stood up, and motioned to the couch, "You can sleep here."

As she was saying that, Ethel walked in. Immediately, she recognized him, "H-Hello…" she greeted him. Quickly, Lucy grabbed her arm and pulled her into the kitchen. "Lucy! What's he doing here?"

"Well…" she said sheepishly. Quickly, she explained what happened. "Ethel, if Ricky finds out I let a stranger stay the night, he'll be mad. If he finds out **who** he'll be furious. I only offered to let him to stay to be polite… I didn't think he really **would**. What should I do?"

Ethel shook her head, "There's not much you can do. Let him stay, and **hope** he doesn't get too comfortable. He says one night, but you don't know…" she warned her friend. Then asked, "Are we still playing cards?"

Lucy shrugged, "Sure, for a while."

~~~~~

That night, after Ethel had gone home, Lucy woke suddenly from dreaming. She thought it was a noise that woke her up, but wasn't sure. _What was that?_ She looked at the clock, one in the morning. She checked on Little Ricky, then went back to bed. _Maybe it wasn't anything…_ Shrugging, she started to fall back to sleep. Then she heard it, a noise from the living room. Startled, she got up to see what it was. Slowly she peeked her head out the bedroom door. Bob was wandering around the room, looking at things. Opening drawers, going through them, then shutting them again. _What's he looking for?_ Lucy wondered. Occassionally, he would stop, pick up an item, examine it, then set it back down. Quietly, she shut the door to the bedroom. She went over to the phone and called Ethel, "Could you and Fred come up here, I think there's a small problem."

"What is it?" Ethel asked sleepily.

"My 'houseguest'," Lucy explained. "He's acting funny - looking around."

"Okay," Ethel agreed. "Fred and I will be up in a minute."

"Okay," Lucy said nervously. She hung up the phone, and went to see what Bob was doing now. 

She poked her head back through the door. Bob threw his arms up in frustration, and muttered to himself, "They sure don't have much here. If Steve was right about this guy bein' in a movie, and havin' lots of money, then how come he doesn't have anything worth stealing?" Lucy saw him start to leave, so she walked out, stretching her arms and stumbling, as if she had **just** woke up. She yawned, "Hi." Then she asked, "What are you doing?"

"O-O-Oh," Surprised, Bob turned around quickly. Nervously he said, "Y-You have a real nice apartment, and I w-was just looking around."

"Oh…" Lucy nodded, not believing him.

"Yeah," he confirmed his story. "And…And I th-thought maybe tomorrow I'll see about moving into this building. I-If other apartments are like this one…"

"Uh huh…" she nodded again, still not believing him.

He shook his head, "It's like I said, I was only looking around."

"Yeah, I saw-- I mean, I know, you told me," Lucy told him.

"You saw me?" he asked, tensing. He was considering trying to quickly run away.

__

Uh oh! I wish he hadn't heard that! "Yeah," she said, trying to sound tough. She pointed to the couch, "Sit down…"

Cautiously, he did what she said. "Now," she said, pulling over the desk chair and taking a seat. "Why were you looking around."

He shrugged, and said sadly, "It was Steve's idea…"

"Steve?… Oh! Steve! You're friend, right?" she asked, and he nodded slowly. "Where is he?"

"He's… Oh, I'm sorry, I can't tell you…"

She glared at him, "Well, you'll have to tell someone sooner or later. If you don't tell me, you'll have to tell the police!"

"The police?" he asked, alarmed. "No, no, I'm sorry, I'll leave!"

Lucy shook her head, "I can't let you do that."

"But… But… But…" he stammered, as someone knocked on the door.

__

I hope that's Ethel and Fred… She got up and answered the door - it was them. "Oh, I'm glad you're here," she told them. "Fred?" she asked quietly. "Would you mind going to the kitchen, and watching the door? Ever since I mentioned the police-- you **did** call them, right?" they nodded, and Lucy went on, "Anyway, ever since I mentioned the police, he's been wanting to leave."

Fred nodded, "Alright. I'll go in the back door." He turned and quickly headed back down the hall.

Lucy gave Fred enough time to get there, before she sighed and turned to Ethel. She motioned to Bob, who was still sitting quietly on the couch, "He was getting a little loud a minute ago, would you mind watching this door? I wanna' make sure Little Ricky's still asleep."

"Okay," Ethel nodded, as Lucy hurried out of the room.

Bob watched Lucy as she left the room, then looked from Ethel to the kitchen door. He had been in there before, he knew he could get out. If he could just get there…

Ethel glanced over to the bedroom door, hoping Lucy wouldn't be long.

She wasn't looking - now was his chance! Bob rushed from the couch to the kitchen door. "Hey!" Ethel called out, but he didn't stop. He reached the door, and pushed on it - but it didn't open. He wasn't prepared for that! He was going so fast, that after he slammed into the door, wholly expecting it to open, he bounced back and fell to the floor.

Hearing Ethel call out, Lucy hurried back into the living room. "What happened?" she asked, noticing Bob unconscious on the floor. She looked up at Ethel, "Wow! You must be stronger than you look!"

Ethel, surprised, shook her head, "I didn't do it, he tried to go into the kitchen, but the door didn't open. He must've knocked himself out!"

"Well, why didn't the door open?" Lucy asked.

Ethel shrugged, "I don't know."

Lucy pushed the door lightly - it moved. She pushed it harder - it opened. Curiously, she walked into the kitchen. She looked around. "Hey, where's Fred?"

Fred had been hiding behind the door, "Right here."

Lucy put her hands on her hips, "If he came in here, did you plan on hiding?"

"No, I probably would've chased him," Fred replied, not **really** sure.

"Oh…" Lucy nodded. "How come he hit the door?"

Fred pushed the door shut, and stood near it, lightly leaning on it, "I blocked it."

"Oh," Lucy smiled. "Well, don't worry about him, he's not coming in here. Come on," she waved, and he followed her into the living room.

Fred saw him on the floor, "I did that?!"

Lucy and Ethel both nodded. Lucy sighed, "Now all we have to do is wait for the police."


	4. Chapter 4

"Hi Ricky," Lucy greeted her husband with a kiss when he came home Monday morning.

"Hmm," he said kissing her back. "If that's the greeting I get, maybe I'll go away more often."

Lucy playfully hit him, "You will not."

He smiled, and kissed her again.

She pulled away, "Oh yeah, Ricky! There's something I need to tell you."

"What?" he asked.

"Well…" she started. Just three days ago, Ricky had something that he didn't want to tell Lucy. Now it was her turn. "Do you remember those guys at dinner Friday night?…" As she was explaining, Ricky got a little mad, but calmed down when she got to the end. "…and Bob reluctantly told the police where Steve was. When he was here, he seemed really worried about the police, but I don't think he was as worried about them, as he was about Steve being angry with him."

"Lucy," he pointed his finger at her. "You shouldn't have let him in here in the first place."

"I know! And trust me, I'll never let anyone in here again…" she started to push him toward the door.

"Hey," he complained. "What's that for?"

Lucy pretended to be shy, "Because you were kissing me, and I'm not supposed to let anyone in!"

He glared at her, "Lucy…"

She shrugged and smiled, "Oh alright! You can stay." Then she pretended to be upset, "You left me alone for two whole days and three whole nights!" She was curious, "Did you get me anything?"

He looked at her strangely. Then he smiled, "Actually, I did." He went over to his luggage, "You know, this whole thing wasn't completely your fault."

"It wasn't?" she asked. "I thought it was. I mean, I shouldn't have let him stay! I knew that from the start, but I let him anyway." She smiled, "But… whatever you say Ricky." She liked it when Ricky said something wasn't her fault. But she was curious, "Why not?"

Ricky opened a suitcase, and pulled out a box. "Well, you wouldn't have been looking at those guys, if Fred and me hadn't been looking at those twin girls." He handed her the box, "I was thinking about that, so I decided to get you something."

Lucy opened the box, and pulled out a single red rose.

"Just one," Ricky said. "Just like I'll always love only one red-head…"

"Oh Ricky," Lucy kissed him again. It was at least a few minutes until she pulled away. She smiled, "I missed you!"

"Oh, wait!" he looked at her teasingly, "Or would that be… brunette?"

Lucy put her hands on her hips and pretended to be offended, "Well…" She started for the kitchen to put her rose in some water.

He chuckled, "I'm only kiddin'."

She turned around, smiling, "I know…"

~~~~~

The End ~ I hope you liked my story!!


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